Chances are, you are running some December holiday online marketing campaigns to harness the holiday shopping season and make some extra sales. Whether your goal is to increase current customer loyalty and make more recurring sales, or bring in new customers, you're probably doing some sort of “Happy Holidays” theme online.
Here's the question posed by many marketers: “Should I say ‘Happy Holidays' or ‘Merry Christmas' in my online marketing?” This seems like a very simple decision and although the messaging is really the same, it can feel like a momentous decision when planning out your digital holiday marketing efforts.
Like most things in life, the answer is not black and white, or as simple as we would like. Instead, it depends very much on two factors: who you are, and who you are talking to. Here's how to decide whether to stay safe with a generic “Happy Holidays” or “Season's Greetings” message, or whether to go bold and call out a particular holiday event.
Who Are You?
First and foremost, who are you? What is your company's brand? One of the hardest parts of marketing is simply deciding who your business is, what your brand stands for, and what your company's voice sounds like. Many businesses opt to go with a version of bland corporate-speak for fear of offending potential customers. But that might not be the best option for your company.
Ann Handley, a content marketing expert, gives a talk at many marketing conferences about the importance of being bold in your branding and making sure you have a distinctive voice. She explains that having a brave, bold voice makes you stand out. After all, she says, playing it safe is boring. If your content is safe, it's not making an impression on anybody. Is that the way you want to position your company? If it is, that's fine: stick to saying “Happy Holidays!” and “Season's Greetings!” But if you're looking to have a louder voice and a brash, bold brand, (or if you position yourself as a religious or spirituality-centered company) maybe “Merry Christmas” is more up your alley.
Who They Are
Equally important is who your customers are. After all, a brand isn't what you say it is, it's what your customers say it is. Most people are not actually going to be offended by a specific holiday greeting; they recognize the intent behind it is to spread good cheer and a welcoming spirit. Regardless, this is one of the reasons it is critical that you understand your audience. If you are a locally-based business in a highly religious or spiritual community, why not give Christmas (or any other holiday that fits) a shout-out?
Similarly, if you know that you tend to do business with a very diverse or sensitive crowd of individuals, you might want to focus more on the holiday season itself rather than a specific event. That's okay, though. There are many ways to express a joyous sentiment and harness the power of the holiday season in a more generic way.
Either way, it's important to know who you're marketing to all year round, but this season is especially important. As mentioned before, it is a very small minority of people who have strong opinions on which holiday greeting they receive. Most people simply appreciate the sentiment, and are not going to base a decision on whether or not to give you business based on which greeting they receive online.
Whether you prefer “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”, we would be happy to hear from you about your December marketing plans and how we can help. Please contact us.
